Video: 'OJ Simpson Verdict - FULL CNN'
(Tuesday, October 3, 1995, 10:07 a.m. PDT; during the murder trial of O. J. Simpson) — O.J. Simpson was acquitted today of the brutal murders of his ex-wife and her friend, a stunning verdict that divided the nation along racial lines and brought a dramatic close to a trial that captivated the public for nine months.
The panel of 10 women and two men deliberated for only three hours before finding the former football star not guilty in the 1994 slayings of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald L. Goldman. Simpson, who had pleaded not guilty, faced life in prison.
As the clerk read the words “not guilty,” Simpson’s body, which had been tense, relaxed. He mouthed “thank you” to the jurors—nine of whom were Black—and embraced his lead attorney, Johnnie L. Cochran Jr.
The verdict, broadcast live across the nation, prompted starkly different reactions. Cheers erupted in largely Black communities, while in court, the families of the victims wept and gasped. Goldman’s sister sobbed convulsively, and his father, Fred Goldman, later called the outcome his “second biggest nightmare.”
The case, which unfolded over 126 days of testimony, was less about the evidence for the defense and more about the integrity of the police who collected it. Cochran and his team argued that the investigation was marred by a racist conspiracy, focusing heavily on now-detective Mark Fuhrman, who was recorded using racial slurs.
“We said that if we could shatter the prosecution’s timeline so that O.J. Simpson couldn’t have committed this crime, that there would be a reasonable doubt,” Cochran said at a news conference following the verdict.
Video: 'From the archives: O.J. Simpson acquitted of double murder in 1995'
Prosecutors, who presented a case based on what they called a “mountain of evidence” including DNA, expressed shock and anger.
“This was not, in our opinion, a close case,” said District Attorney Gil Garcetti. “Apparently their decision was based on emotion that overcame the reason.”
A lead prosecutor, Christopher Darden, was overcome with emotion and unable to finish his remarks to reporters.
The racial fissures the trial exposed were immediately evident. Robert Shapiro, who was once Simpson’s lead attorney, criticized his successors in a televised interview.
“Not only did we play the race card, we dealt it from the bottom of the deck,” Shapiro said.
Simpson, 48, was released from custody shortly after the verdict. He was driven back to his Brentwood home, retracing in a white van the path of his infamous slow-speed chase in a Ford Bronco after the killings.
Video: 'From the archives: 1995 ‘Nightly News’ coverage of verdict in O.J. Simpson trial'
In a statement read by his son, Jason, Simpson expressed relief that an “incredible nightmare” was over and vowed to find the “real killers,” whom he said were “out there somewhere.”
The case, presided over by Judge Lance Ito, became a national spectacle, raising enduring questions about race, justice, celebrity, and domestic violence.
U.S. President Bill Clinton, who watched the verdict in the White House, later urged the public to respect the jury’s decision.
Two years later, Simpson would be found liable for the murders in a civil suit from the victims’ families but paid little of the $33.5 million judgment.
In 2007, Simpson was arrested in Las Vegas and charged with armed robbery and kidnapping. He was convicted the following year and sentenced to 33 years’ imprisonment with a minimum of nine years without parole.
Simpson served his sentence at the Lovelock Correctional Center in rural Nevada until being paroled and released in 2017.
